Can Hickeys Kill?

Usually hickeys just leave an embarrassing mark, but in rare cases they can kill. The Doctors examine a recent incident were a hickey reportedly caused a 17-year-old to die.

According to The Independent, Julio Macias Gonzalez died after getting a hickey from his girlfriend. The hickey reportedly created a blood clot that traveled to his brain and then caused him to have a stroke. While eating dinner with his family, Julio began having convulsions and died.

When the story first made headlines many speculated it was false, but The Doctors set the record straight on this rare and scary indecent.

“Any time you damage a vessel… you can increase the propensity for clots to form and if that clot does form and break off, it can lead to a stroke and it’s big enough, of course we know that it can lead to death,” ER physician Dr. Travis Stork explains.

But should those giving and getting hickeys be afraid?

“These things are very rare, so we don’t want to freak people out when it comes to giving a hickey,” Dr. Stork continues, saying in most cases to cause any serious damage one would have to give someone an extreme hickey.